Launching ProcureCo at Procurex National
The ProcureCo team attended Procurex National 2024 – the UK’s leading public procurement event – in Liverpool on 16 May.
ProcureCo Founder / Director Moira Skinner was invited to speak at the event and to share insights from ProcureCo – the pre-tender market engagement platform for public sector and social housing procurement.
Moira delivered a powerful presentation exploring how the new Procurement Act (2023) presents buyers with exciting opportunities to engage new entrants, microbusinesses and SMEs – while at the same time increasing smaller suppliers’ access to winning public procurement tenders.
Speaking to a packed crowd in the Social Housing Procurement Zone at Exhibition Centre Liverpool, Moira shared her knowledge and insights gathered over her long career in both the public and private sectors.
The ProcureCo team were pleased to be able to meet so many colleagues from across the country, and to welcome many new buyers and suppliers who registered on the platform.
SME and microbusiness perceptions of public sector procurement
Moira cited a 2023 Federation of Small Business (FSB) policy paper on public sector procurement in Greater Manchester informed by research into small business perspectives on delivering public sector contracts. The research revealed that although 71% of respondents said they were keen to deliver public sector contracts, as they would be a source of regular work, there were multiple factors hindering their engagement, including that:
- 68% of the small business respondents had a negative perception of public sector procurement
- 67% were unaware that lower-value contracts to not require a full tender process
- only 11% felt that they understood how to navigate the public sector procurement process.
Moira explained how this research confirmed the insights and trends she has gathered through her extensive engagement with small businesses, including as part of the POSH (Procurement Opportunities in Social Housing) programme she developed and delivered at the London Jobs Fair. She shared how the ProcureCo platform has been developed as a direct response to feedback of this kind, and with a clear aim of breaking down barriers to engagement in public procurement by new suppliers, SMEs and microbusinesses.
ProcureCo as the solution
Key features of the ProcureCo platform that are providing the solution to these challenges include:
- signposting suppliers to future contracts, before tenders are published
- conducting meaningful pre-tender market engagement in ProcureCo’s growing number of networking and pre-tender working groups
- sharing insights from public sector procurement leads and other experts via ProcureCo’s wide-ranging programme of events
- showcasing suppliers in ProcureCo’s supplier directory
- enabling buyers and suppliers to connect directly on the platform via ProcureCo’s member directory.
Resources
- The Procurement Act, Section 16 – how to engage new entrants, microbusinesses & SMEs | Moira Skinner’s presentation delivered at Procurex National, 2024
- Public Sector Procurement in Greater Manchester – Small business perspectives on delivering public sector contracts | Federation of Small Business (FSB), 2023
